David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Clearly, Senator, you do not understand the first- and second-pass acquisition process. Indeed, may I take you to your very own acquisition for HMAS Choules. There was no competitive process. There was no first or second pass. There was simply a cheque for $100 million. And Senator, your ignorance really does astound me, because if you knew about high-end acquisitions you would know that the second- and first-pass process is one that is conducted, particularly for these sorts of acquisitions, very transparently and very carefully. At the end of the day I can only say to you that your reference to bias is completely and utterly ignorant and irrelevant.